Eternity Words
by FacetiousFish
Summary: “In memory of Daniel Jackson, he lived, he loved, he lost…and now he is gone too.” Set after Meridian. Jack considers the memory of his friend and how death was just too final for Daniel Jackson’s restless spirit…One Shot. DJ friendship.


**Eternity Words**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Stargate SG1 characters or storylines/scripts for the show. Neither does bob…not that that is relevant…lol**

**Summary – "In memory of Daniel Jackson, he lived, he loved, he lost…and now he is gone too." Set after Meridian. Jack considers the memory of his friend and how death was just too final for Daniel Jackson's restless spirit…One Shot. D/J friendship.**

**Rated: K+ (I feel no need for a T, no swearing or anything, its family friendly!)**

**Author's Notes**

**-This fic is nothing more than totally random! I sat down and I wrote purely coz I felt like it…well I do that a lot, but this time it made something half decent! I mite also be able to use this for English coursework…have to see how much my teacher can handle, she has a really adorable little daughter called Olivia (Same as Amanda Tapping's! woot!) and I don't want to pressure her to read my stuff when there is something much more desirable to be spending time doing :o)**

**- I hope some of my readers from Serendipity will take a gander this way, I think I wrote this better than I wrote chapter 12! That chappie actually gave me writers block!**

**-On another totally random note I think I will have to go tidy my room and curl my hair in a min…then its hot chocolate and Stargate eppy for me! Hope you enjoy the fic!**

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Empty.

The room was empty…well not empty of inanimate objects, no, they cluttered the desks, piled on the shelves, artifacts, documents, a lamp and a laptop buried in the far corner. But there was no life, there was no light…there was no Daniel.

Jack's shadow ventured into the lab whereas he did not. He stood in the doorway, his eyes scanning everything…everything that would have to be taken away, shipped off, put in boxes. Everything Daniel was, was ending, was being packed up and left for the dust to settle. Grief still lingered in the halls of the SGC but it was lessening, day by day the grief gathered dust while the happiness spurred people to push on with their lives, forget their friend who had slipped away, the beautiful bright light which left no trace of Daniel's existence. This lab was the essence of the man he called friend, his life, his work, his achievements where here…and now he was gone all of this would be too.

This thought touched a great sadness in the older man. For him, to die didn't mean to change, it meant to disappear, slip through the cracks of the universe, remain only as a name on a polished plaque – In memory of Daniel Jackson, he lived, he loved, he lost…and now he is gone too.

'Don't think like that Jack,' smiling eyes looked up at him from a position at the center desk 'I may be dead, but I'm not gone,'

'Daniel…' Jack did not move, he did not rush to throw his arms around his friend, he did not register surprise, he did not even take a few small steps into the room, in fact his response was almost cold. Daniel put down the file he was reading and moved "A history of great archeological discoveries" from the center table to the right of his laptop

'What's the matter Jack, not pleased to see me?' the golden light that highlighted Daniel's hair and cast his face into shadow were familiar…but maybe that was the problem.

'I would…' Jack sighed 'it's a shame you're just a delusion…' shaking himself mentally the man went to leave and was followed by his friend and the light that still bathed him in gold.

'I'm here Jack, I'm really here.' When Jack returned to his position at the doorway he was met by sincere stare…that was when he knew 'you know…technically I'm breaking the rules…I just had to give you a message…'

Although he knew it was the response Daniel desired, Jack did not say "what" straight away, instead he fought the urge to reach out and touch his friend's cheek, hug him and smile "spacemonkey" he had to remind himself that this was not like that time or the many others like it, Daniel wasn't going to be the presence in the lab that he once was, he wasn't going to be wandering through the corridors deeply involved in some report, he wasn't going to be laughing over toast and fruitloops at breakfast, just as suddenly as he had appeared he would be gone again…and there was a big betting that corporeality wasn't included in the package.

'What?' he indulged, his arms almost echoing the posture of a self hug that Daniel held

'Don't loose it. Don't loose what you have had since we've been friends…' Now Jack could tell Daniel was avoiding his gaze, the man picked up the glasses from the table, tried them on as if for old times sake before placing them back in the exact position they had occupied previously

'Very modest Daniel.' More papers shuffled from one side of the desk to the other 'What do you mean don't loose it? Don't loose what? And what the hell has it got to do with you anyway?'

There was a tone of irritation and another of a slightly patronizing nature as Daniel replied;

'Ever since I came back from Abydos, since SG-1 has been together you have been able to live, to move on, to create another family. There is something different in you now that you never had before. Don't let go because you feel part of that is lost.'

'Lemme guess,' Jack quipped 'You've got your journey, I've got mine?' Daniel's head fell, desperation still etched Jack's voice, he still couldn't quite believe Daniel was gone, furthermore, he couldn't quite believe he was here…back, for however shorter time.

'Something like that, yeah.' Daniel sighed before giving it one last shot, talking Jack down from the ledge as seemed his job as friend. Dead or not 'the point is…do you remember when we talked years back…I talked about my desperation over Shau'ri and you talked about Sara, how she forgave you for how Charlie died but could not forget? You said to me…you said "I'm the opposite…I'll never forgive myself…but sometimes I can forget…sometimes" you don't have to remember how painful life can be Jack, you can forget, you can loose something but still keep your soul, still come back. You did it once Jack, you can do it again.'

'How do you know?' The older form now leant against the doorframe, captured by Daniel's words 'Maybe I can't, maybe one man can't kill his child and his best friend and still carry on. Maybe the guilt is too much, maybe I just can't forget this time."

"You didn't kill me Jack, and you didn't kill Charlie. If there is one thing Oma has taught me it is that fate has its way, no matter the price. If Charlie was meant to die, he was going to die no matter how you changed it. The Gamekeeper operated the same way…you know how no matter how you tried to change the game the score always went one-nil to the other team? You couldn't save your men, I couldn't save my parents. Fate forced its path and there is nothing we could ever do to change it, every person has regrets, we all think "what if?" but the past is the past and the future is all that matters, Don't ever forget that.'

There was a pensive silence in which so many thoughts span in each mind and there were so many things each man wanted to say. One thing they knew though was that now they didn't need words to say them.

'So…' Jack sliced through the silence with what Daniel knew would be another witty comment 'Not a delusion?'

'No,' Daniel smirked, shaking his head the way he did. The smile was soon to fall though 'I have to go now…'

'Or you could stay?' Jack suggested, knowing blatantly which choice he preferred

'I can't.'

'You just did.'

'Special occasion,'

'Christmas?'

'No.'

'Groundhog Day?'

'No,'

'I've got my journey, you've got yours?' Jack rephrased a previous comment in the conversation, knowing what the reply would be

'Something like that, yeah…'

There was a small laugh between the two old friends and Daniel's departure was as sudden as it took for Jack's gaze to fall and return. Déjà vu indeed.

As Jack went to leave the room he questioned if Daniel had even been there, if they had talked or if the image of his friend truly was a delusion, how his simple mind had been able to touch his own heart with such sensitive words and make him laugh with Daniel brand humor. All the papers had returned to their piles, the glasses lay folded in the darkness, Jack's eyes scanned the room in the hopes of some sign that Daniel had been there, some distinguishing feature that made his mind jump or his heart miss a beat…and he found it…to the right of the dusty laptop lay a book, bound in brown with golden words it read "A history of great archeological discoveries"

Empty.

The room was empty…well not empty of inanimate objects, no, they cluttered the desks, piled on the shelves, artifacts, documents, a lamp and a laptop buried in the far corner. But there was no life, there was no light…there was no Daniel…

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**Okay, so what did ya think? For all those who have read before you know I appreciate R&R. for all those who haven't read b4, ya know I like R&R now!**

**Just in case it's annoying you or you were just wondering, some of that dialogue came from the episode "Abyss" it's a favorite of mine, I'm always ripping it off! Lol**

**Calling out to all Stargate fans here – I have a message board, it has a pretty skin I made nd stuff, its called Kawoosh Gate. Its pretty new and Im looking for more members, if ure interested the address is: www . s9 . invisionfree . com / Kawoosh gate . Hope I'll see u there :o)**

**Smiles**

**Sesa**

**xxx **


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